2wd to 4wd

04 EDGE · Dec 8, 2008

some have seen this, figure i'll post it here

first start with a 2004 EDGE 2wd

next remove the pro-comp lift spindles

next weld a bracket to the frame. first attempt was in the wrong place

next mount the front axle.

next install cv axles

now install knuckles and bearings.

next install 2 new 12" raybestos brake rotors

next bolt the wheels on and look at your new lowered truck.

that concludes the suspension part of the swap, next i'll post the serious stuff.

but first you need to start sourcing parts.
front drive shafts, neither were used

BW 1354M t case out of a 93ish explorer

now at this point i had a decision to make, either get another trans or try to find parts to swap the 2wd trans to 4wd.

seems 5r44e 4x4 cores are hard to come buy, so i made a call to a good friend at CTS transmissions, thank you chuck.

used output shaft and housing, FREEBIES!

this is all you get for tonight. the good stuff will come tomorrow!

04 EDGE · Dec 10, 2008

sorry for the delay, seems no one is interested anyway.

oh well on with the build.

gasket and seal kit

most of these were not used as my transmission only had 45k on it
4x4 filter

shift correction kit

rear driveshaft out of a 2000 explorer

at this point i felt i had enough parts to get the trans done

remove the slid plate, exhaust Y pipe, trans vent tube and disconnect the lines and electrical connectors.

now remove the transmission crossmember and mount

next remove the starter, bellhousing bolts, torque converter nuts and remove the transmission

sweet almost there!

what a great time for my computer to start acting up, go vista!
let me resolve this problem, bbl

ZMan · Dec 10, 2008

cool little project, good writeup.

Captain Ledd · Dec 10, 2008

x2! I've been curious on the details as well. Looking forward to more posts.

04 EDGE · Dec 10, 2008

well still haven't got my tech problem resolved but i'll try anyway

now on to the internal trans stuff, this is not for the novice!

first remove the pan

now remove the tail shaft housing

now the valve body

now remove the pump/ bell housing

now remove all internal components keeping them in order. i made sure to get the 50 page alldata exploded diagram/ rebuild wright up.

now finally i have gotten to the small snap ring that holds the output shaft in

at last, the 2wd shaft is out!

4x4 shaft installed

now reassemble everything back in order.

reinstall pump

tail shaft housing

valve body

4x4 filter and pan

adjust the bands

now stand back and enjoy your work

84projectFORD · Dec 10, 2008

that pretty sweet to see! the front diff looked pretty easy to put in. do you have a car lift at teh house or did you use a shop?

grey ghost · Dec 10, 2008

great job so far can't wait to see the rest of the build.
did you still have the front lift spindles? how well did you like them?
:icon_cheers:

04 EDGE · Dec 10, 2008

84projectFORD said:
that pretty sweet to see! the front diff looked pretty easy to put in. do you have a car lift at teh house or did you use a shop?

the front diff was very easy to install. just had to weld one bracket to the frame. the other two were already there.

no lift at the house. used the lift at the shop.. took the trans out and brought it home on a saturday. took the trans back to work monday morning, drove the truck home for lunch monday at noon!

04 EDGE · Dec 10, 2008

grey ghost said:
great job so far can't wait to see the rest of the build.
did you still have the front lift spindles? how well did you like them?

the lift spindles are long gone!

they were ok 5 years ago i guess lol

ZMan · Dec 10, 2008

did you post this on RPS too? This looks really familiar.

Plop · Dec 10, 2008

sweet build, looks like I am not doing this. I am just buying a new (junkyard) trans and t-case. There is definitely more to this than I thought.

justinp21 · Dec 11, 2008

Ok i want to do a 4x4 swap on my 08 but this is looking a little more complicated for my levels of expertise.

04 EDGE · Dec 11, 2008

oh joy!

now just put it back together

now at this point i had a problem, the TTB explorer front shaft was to long, maybe 2 inches. so i had a few options, first was to have a new one made for 280 bucks, nah not for me, i am a cheap ass and wasn't gonna spend that much!
so i decided to call a few local scrap yards and see if they had any out that i could size up. well just my luck, i did some research and seems that the 95-97 explorer used a drive shaft like what i needed to match the T case but were torsion bar suspension. now i made a call to a place i have been using for years, seems that bought up some old stuff ford had laying in there warehouse and low and behold i got this NEW front shaft for 100 bucks!

sweet fits like a glove!

ok now just one thing left, the shifter.

well again my cheap side shines!

instead of paying ford 200 for a new shifter i found one out of a 90 broncoII

i picked it up for 10 bucks

i had to mod it a little and use the arm from the 1350 i think. (its been a while)
had to flip it upside down or something.

now i rebuilt the shifter somewhat, a few new bushings from ford and a few washers and some grinding and sweet it works

i dont have any pics of the inside but its not bad. i got a leather boot and a new knob.
the cup holder is pretty much useless but whatever.

04 EDGE · Dec 11, 2008

now at this point i could have been done, not me.

seems the 4x2 ABS module did not like the 4x4 hubs
so i got a 4x4 module, installed it and now a new set of codes. seems the instrument cluster did not like the new 4x4 ABS module. so i contacted ford, had them try to re-flash the IC. there idiots at the dealer here so i raised hell and didn't pay them. it was a mess.

so this is what i did, i found a 4x4 cluster at a local yard, installed it and again got a steady ABS light.

never give up

got digging and found that there is a wire that is omitted on the inside of the truck, it goes from the cluster (4x4 bulb, i'll get to that in a few) to the ABS module. its there under the hood. so i ran a new wire from the harness connector to the cluster.

success! no more ABS light and this

now there just a few small details left, the spedo cable on the t case and the 4x4 lights in the cluster

heres the explorer speedo cable end, i tried to put some rtv on it, it still leaked. so i called my people at ford and found this along with a new 4x4 light switch and pigtail.

leak fixed

so all was left was to run two wires from the 4x4 switch to the cluster. the 04 cluster had all the bulbs (leds) in place.

sweet.

and the rest as they say is history!

it been a year and a half and maybe 10K on this, i have had no problems.

Plop · Dec 11, 2008

so what is your guess on how much you spent to swap this out?

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2wd to 4wd

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